Cold cream
Cold cream is an emulsion of water and certain fats, usually including beeswax and various scent agents, designed to smooth skin and remove makeup. Cold cream is a water-in-oil emulsion (emulsion of small amount of water in a larger amount of oil), unlike the oil in water emulsion of vanishing cream, so-called because it seems to disappear when applied on skin. The name "cold cream" derives from the cooling feeling that the cream leaves on the skin. Variations of the product have been used for nearly 2000 years.
Cold cream is mainly used for skin treatment (such as a facial mask or lip balm), due to its moisturizing properties. It can also be used as shaving cream and as a makeup remover.[1]
Modern formulation[edit]
Almost all modern cold creams have replaced the plant oils with mineral oil and have added alcohol, glycerin, and lanolin.[2] Beginning in the 1970s, jojoba oil became a common ingredient, used as a substitute of spermaceti from whales.[2] Widely sold brands of cold cream in the United States include Pond's[6] and Noxzema.[7]
Over the centuries, new uses have been found for the product: "As a toilet requisite cold cream is used for softening and cooling the skin after sunburn, as a cleansing cream, to relieve harshness of the skin, etc."[8]